


A Christmas Visitor

by justyrae



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Christmas, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 02:52:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9052360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justyrae/pseuds/justyrae
Summary: Over and over the only truthEverything comes back to you





	

**Author's Note:**

> i set out to write a sappy xmas fic and that's exactly what i did. nailed it.
> 
> happy xmas, everyone!

_@NiallOfficial: Get a chest infection Christmas week .... cool cool cool ........ not ideal_

Niall grimaces as he tosses his phone aside and settles into his couch even further as he tugs a blanket up to his chin. He'd started feeling less than one hundred percent in Chicago but at the time he'd chalked it up to jet lag finally catching up to him. He would've flown to London a hundred times over to be there for Louis, just as long as he didn't get sick because of it.

But now that he's home in Mullingar with an empty house and a terrible infection, he's feeling grumpy and a bit sorry for himself. He was still hoping to get over the illness quickly enough to actually take part in the festivities for Christmas with his friends and family but as the days progressed he felt worse and worse and it wasn't looking as though the holidays were going to work out the way he wanted.

To make matters worse, all he ever sees when he opens up Instagram or Snapchat were countless photos and videos from all the holiday parties he was invited to but ended up not being able to attend. Instead he has to stay home in a self-imposed quarantine so as to not spread his illness to anyone else.

Niall huffs miserably as he tips to one side and presses his face against one of the pillows on his couch, grumbling unintelligible words to himself as he reaches for the TV remote. He flips aimlessly through a few channels here and there until he finally settles on one, mostly because he's tired of pressing the button. He can't even tell what programme he's stopped on before he falls asleep, too tired and groggy from his medicine to keep his eyes open any longer.

He wakes up a few hours later with a horrendous coughing fit that has him gasping for breath by the end. He drags himself into his kitchen to refill his water bottle, forcing himself to drink nearly the entire thing and fill it up again before he crawls back to the couch.

He grabs his phone from the opposite end of the couch before he lies back down, groaning a little when he sees a bunch of texts from several different people sent while he'd been napping. There's one from his mum, that one he answers first so she doesn't keep worrying about him, a few from friends scattered around the world, but there's one in particular that stands out from the rest.

**_a little bird told me you're sick. won't be seeing you with the lic on friday then?_ **

Niall finds himself frowning deeply at Bressie's text. He'd love nothing more than to make the trip to Dublin right now and see everyone, but he just can't. Truth be told, he feels a little anger towards Bressie for bringing it up when it's quite obvious Niall can't make it. Seems a bit like pouring salt in the wound, even if deep down Niall knows Bressie didn't mean it like that.

**_fraid not_** , he texts back. **_keep an eye on everybody for me! happy xmas and all that xx_ **

Niall lets his phone drop onto his chest as he lets out a long breath, thankful that he hasn't had another coughing fit since waking up. He thinks about taking another nap, god knows he feels exhausted enough that he could definitely get away with it, but he needs to take some more medicine soon and he hasn't eaten anything in several hours. He doesn't particularly fancy the idea of making anything for himself but he hasn't got a whole lot of choice.

His phone buzzes with another text from Bressie before he can make a decision.

**_sorry to hear that chief. gonna miss ya. make sure somebody's taking good care of your sick arse alright?_ **

Niall laughs as he reads the text, coughing a few times as a result but it doesn't dampen his spirits. The small feeling of anger he felt from Bressie's first text has melted away completely to be replaced with the warm, fuzzy feeling that he's always associated with Bressie. Niall stares at Bressie's text for so long that his phone's screen goes dark before he manages to come up with a reply. He sets his phone aside and presses his face against the pillow again, groaning softly to himself as he lets his mind wander.

He misses Bressie more than he lets himself think about most days; sometimes he chalks it up to homesickness and being on the road too much. But if Niall really lets his guard down and admit the truth to himself, he misses Bressie even after he's just seen him. He starts missing Bressie the second he walks out the door.

Niall groans loudly as he fumbles for his phone, unlocking the screen and reading Bressie's text again. Maybe, he thinks, this illness is his punishment for keeping these feelings bottled up for so long. The thought is fleeting - and _ridiculous_ \- but Niall still blushes.

**_all on me own sadly. dont wanna get anyone else sick!_ **

Niall sets his phone aside and shuts off his TV before he turns over onto his side so he's facing the sofa cushions. By the time he remembers that he should set an alarm so he can take more medicine, it's far too late because his eyes are already falling closed and his entire body feels like it's made of lead. Niall falls asleep with Bressie on his mind and a smile on his face.

*

The next few days are a bit of a blur for Niall, hours lost to endless naps and a haze brought on by various antibiotics. Niall's spirits are considerably dampened when his doctor calls with the results of his tests and it turns out his chest infection is actually pneumonia.

The only upside to having a correct diagnosis is the fact that he's put on proper antibiotics and starts to feel the slightest bit better after a full day on them. He still can't leave his house nor does he think it's a good idea to have anyone over, but now there's a chance that he'll be well enough by Christmas to celebrate properly.

Still, Niall definitely feels a bit like a prisoner in his own home.

_@NiallOfficial: Should have listened to my mother years ago when she said " don't go out with wet hair or you'll get pneumonia"_

Niall gets a good laugh out of some of the replies to his tweet before he puts his phone down and pulls himself up from the couch with the intention of taking a shower. He's relieved that the antibiotics he's on have started to work so that he has a bit of energy back. If he had to go another day without showering he'd want to get quarantined from himself.

A few hours later, Niall's in the kitchen trying to figure out what kind of food he can make for himself that won't take forever to prepare. Just because he's got some energy back doesn't mean he should exhaust himself by cooking something for lunch.

His doorbell suddenly rings and he pauses for a moment, wondering if he'd imagined the sound. He stays in his kitchen and waits for it to go off again on the off chance that it hadn't happened at all. It rings again not a minute later and Niall does his best to hurry to the door, but he gets winded about halfway and has to walk very, very slowly so as to not lose his breath entirely.

It's entirely possible he loses his breath upon seeing who's on the other side: Bressie.

"What're you doing here?" Niall wheezes as he leans heavily against the door.

"Brought you a care package, Chief." Bressie smiles down at him. "Thought you might need it."

He goes to open the glass door separating the two of them but Niall miraculously catches the handle first and pulls on it to keep the door shut. Bressie rolls his eyes but he doesn't try to yank it out of Niall's hands, for which Niall is thankful.

"I don't want to get you sick, Brez."

"Don't worry about me," Bressie insists, "you should be worryin' about yourself. You need someone to take care of you."

"Brez--"

"M'coming in whether you like it or not." Bressie smiles again and laughs. "You can't stop me."

Niall groans weakly and drops his hand from the door. He's right, the bastard; Niall couldn't stop him if he tried.

"Good to see you, lad." Bressie pulls Niall into a hug with one arm while he holds a basket with his other, only holding him for a moment before he dutifully lets go and steps away. "Now go sit down, I'll get you something."

"You don't--" Niall starts, but Bressie takes off for his kitchen before he can stop him.

Niall heads for the couch without further protest and wraps himself up in a blanket as he listens to Bressie bang around in his kitchen. Once the noise from Bressie searching for the right pot settles, Niall hears him start singing softly to himself. A smile spreads across Niall's face and suddenly that warm, giddy feeling is back, filling up his heart until it feels fit to burst. He missed having someone around and the fact that it's Bressie who's here with him now, well, that just changes everything.

"Here we are," Bressie says when he enters the living room fifteen minutes later with a bowl full of hot soup. "Just what the doctor ordered."

"You a doctor now?" Niall teases as he sits up straight so he can take the bowl without too much trouble.

"Hush now and eat." Bressie takes a seat at the far end of the couch and watches as Niall brings the spoon up to his mouth. Niall concentrates on his spoon, telling himself it's to make sure he doesn't spill rather than the fact that he's not sure if he can handle the intensity of Bressie's stare at the moment.

He feels so small under Bressie's gaze, he always has. It still sends a thrilling shiver down his spine and he hopes that he's flushed enough from the pneumonia that Bressie won't notice a bit more color in his cheeks.

"Gonna entertain me or what?" he blurts out, a nervous laugh following.

"What, you want me to tell you a story or summat?" Bressie laughs.

"Yeah, sure, I dunno." Niall shakes his head. "Whatever you like, I s'pose."

"I got one for ya," Bressie says, his lips curling up into a smirk. "S'about a lad who travels all over the world."

"Oh?" Niall hums, intrigued. "What's the lad's name?"

"Don't interrupt the story, Chief. I know your mum taught you better."

Bressie's voice is stern but his eyes sparkle with amusement. Niall mimes zipping his lips and goes back to eating his soup while he waits for Bressie to speak.

The story he tells turns out to be a fairly accurate description of every single solo performance NIall's given over the last two months. Niall's heart beats wildly within his chest as Bressie talks about each one as if he was there, making Niall wonder how many times Bressie watched videos of his performances; if he woke up at all hours of the night to catch livestreams of him on American telly. Niall's throat feels as though it might close up at any moment but he keeps bringing spoonfuls of soup up to his mouth to keep himself occupied.

"Bit of a sad ending though, I'm afraid." Bressie shakes his head and sighs.

"Wha-- Why?" Niall asks with a frown.

"Oh, because the poor lad died of pneumonia because he washed his hair and then didn't dry it before he went out into the cold, like a right arsehole." Bressie cracks up, laughing uproariously at his own story before he even finishes the last line. Niall just manages to set the bowl aside before he bursts into laughter as well, laughing much harder than he's laughed in days.

He doesn't even mind when it sets off a coughing fit.

"Jesus," Bressie says with a softer laugh as he scoots across the couch to pat Niall's back as he hunches over in the midst of his coughing. "Take it easy, there."

"M'alright," Niall chokes out between coughs.

When he finally sits up straight, Bressie's still by his side with a comforting hand rubbing up and down his back. Niall finds himself leaning into Bressie's touch without even meaning to, and he has to physically force himself to pull away.

"Still contagious," he offers as a weak excuse. He's not actually sure how long he'll stay contagious now that he's on antibiotics but the last thing he wants is to get anyone, especially Bressie, sick.

"But you're feeling better, yeah?"

"Yeah, got the right meds and all." Niall shrugs. "The doctor said I'd be right as rain in a week or two."

"Good." Bressie nods.

They're both silent for a few minutes and Niall fights the urge to fidget. He hasn't been this nervous around Bressie since… well, it's been a while. It's also completely ridiculous that he's _this_ nervous but there doesn't seem to be much he can do about it.

"I really like it, by the way," Bressie says suddenly. "This Town, that is."

Niall's absolutely sure he's blushing too hard for Bressie not to notice now. He remembers how he felt seeing Bressie's tweet not long after he'd released the song and he fights back another shiver.

"Thanks," Niall says, for lack of anything better.

"Shoulda heard all the lads and lasses around town, wondering who it was about." Bressie chuckles. "Got them in a right frenzy, you did."

"That right?"

Niall's heart starts beating so fast that he can't hear anything over the echo of it pounding in his ears. His chest feels like it may explode and he has to clasp his hands together to keep them from shaking as Bressie goes on about Mullingar's reaction to his song. What feels like ages is really perhaps a few seconds before Niall finds himself blurting out his secret that he swore he'd take to his grave:

"It's about you."

"...What?"

"T-The song," Niall sputters, "This Town, it's… it's about you."

"Come off it," Bressie says with a laugh, "you're not… you can't be serious."

"Why not?" Niall says, his voice turning defensive.

"But… it's not. It can't be." Bressie shakes his head. "You sing about fuckin' _perfume_ , Chief. It's not about me."

"What, because of one word you're telling me I didn't write a song about you? I think I know who I wrote the bloody song about, Brez!"

Bressie stays quiet for a long moment and Niall catches his breath. He got himself so worked up that his chest feels tight and his lungs rattle with every breath he takes. Part of him wishes he'd never said anything, that he'd never let Bressie through the door in the first place.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Doesn't matter, does it?" Niall mutters.

"It does matter."

"I thought you had someone else," he snaps. "I thought… I dunno what I thought. But it doesn't matter. Clearly you--" Niall cuts himself off and turns away from Bressie as he puts his hand over his mouth before he says something else stupid.

"Clearly I what?" Bressie asks calmly. Niall hears the squeak of the couch springs before he feels Bressie's presence right beside him and he fights to stay still. "Niall, tell me."

"I saw you, once." Niall takes a deep breath. "In the pub. After I'd gotten home from tour. I was gonna surprise you but… you were with someone. I know we weren't anything, we didn't… we never…" Niall shakes his head and lets out a hollow laugh. "It still hurt."

"Jesus," Bressie murmurs softly. "M'sorry."

"No, don't--" Niall turns towards him. "Don't apologize, fuck. It's not your fault, I--"

Bressie suddenly pulls Niall into a tight hug and presses his mouth to the top of his head in a kiss. Niall freezes up for a moment before he wraps his arms around Bressie and hugs him back. He closes his eyes and lets himself breathe, and for a moment he's lost in a fantasy where things are different.

"You fucking idiot," Bressie mutters. Niall opens his eyes as Bressie pulls away and cradles Niall's face in his hands. "You should've told me."

"What?"

Bressie laughs softly and tips his head forward so his forehead presses against Niall's.

"If you weren't ill, I'd kiss you right now."

A smile spreads across Niall's face that's so big it's certain to take over his whole head if he's not careful. Everything in him aches to tilt his head just a little, to catch Bressie's lips with his own, but he knows he shouldn't. Instead he tightens his arms around Bressie and holds him close. It's not enough but it's all he can do for now.

"Brez," he groans after a few minutes of just holding each other, "you're gonna catch what I've got."

"Think I already did that," Bressie teases. Niall hides his grin against Bressie's shoulder for a moment before he pulls away from the warmth of Bressie's arms.

"Can't have both of us be sick on Christmas," Niall insists. "Besides, you've got the LIC thing tomorrow, haven't you?"

"That's right." Bressie nods. He stays silent for a moment as he runs his hand through Niall's hair and looks at him with a fond smile. "Maybe it's a good thing you won't be there, Chief. Reckon I wouldn't pay attention to anyone else if you were."

"Brez," Niall mumbles sheepishly as he ducks his head, embarrassed by how easy it is for Bressie to make him blush with just a few words.

"Alright, alright," Bressie says as he stands up from the couch. His hand falls away from Niall's hair and grazes his cheek. "Guess I'll head off now."

"Alright," Niall says softly as he looks up at Bressie with bright eyes. They stare at each other for a few minutes with matching smiles before Niall starts to get up from the couch but Bressie stops him.

"Ah, no, you stay there. Get some rest so you can get better fast, you hear me?"

"Aye," Niall says, giving Bressie a mock salute as he stretches out on the couch. Bressie shakes his head and laughs as he turns away and heads for the door, calling a goodbye over his shoulder as he leaves.

Niall settles further into the couch with a smile still plastered to his face, feeling warm and cozy for the first time in days and it's not just because he's wrapped up in a blanket. He's almost managed to fall asleep when his phone buzzes inside the pocket of his trackies and he pulls it out, intending to put it on the table and ignore whatever's on there but he pauses when he sees the message is from Bressie.

**_even without you there, I'll still be distracted tomorrow. get better soon x_ **

Niall texts back a row of x's before he puts his phone on silent and sets it on the table next to him. As soon as he closes his eyes he sees Bressie's face and the fond smile that never seems to go away. Now more than ever Niall wishes he was all better but for the first time in days he's not as bothered by his being sick. After all, if it weren't for his catching pneumonia, this might not ever have happened.

*

By the time Christmas Eve rolls around, Niall's energy has returned and he doesn't feel like he has to spend all day every day on the couch anymore. At Bobby's request he calls his doctor and double-checks whether or not he's still contagious, as Bobby really wants Niall to attend Mass with him. When he gets the blessing from his doctor, it's almost as though Christmas has come early judging from the look in Bobby's eyes.

"C'mon, lad! Let's go to the pub to celebrate!"

"Da, I'm not…" Niall's told Bobby no less than twenty times that he's not supposed to be drinking beer right now, what with his acid reflux and whatnot, but it never quite seems to get through. Still, Niall feels like he can't exactly turn down an invitation to leave his house since it's been literal ages since he's been allowed to do so.

The one problem he runs into is not having a chance to text Bressie to tell him the good news before he's ushered out of his own damn house.

The pub is packed with familiar faces, all bright eyes and warm smiles as Bobby leads Niall through the place. At first Niall thinks he's just eager to get them to the bar to have a pint, but soon it becomes clear that Bobby has an ulterior motive.

"Look who it is, Niall!" Bobby says loudly. "Good to see you, Brez!"

Niall's heart skips a beat when Bressie turns around and smiles widely at the pair of them, pulling Bobby into a quick hug before he sets his sights on Niall.

"All better, Chief?" he murmurs in Niall's ear as he hugs him and Niall replies with a sheepish laugh and a nod of his head.

"Here, you entertain him for a minute while I get us some pints. He's been cooped up for days, he could use a bit of company!" Bobby claps Niall's shoulder before he turns and disappears into the crowd, leaving the pair by themselves.

"Hi," Niall says as he tucks himself under Bressie's arm.

"Hiya back." Bressie grins. "C'mere."

He leads Niall through the crowd with one hand on the small of his back until they reach a rather secluded corner. Now that it's just the two of them Niall's heart starts pounding with anticipation of what's going to happen next. Bressie's hand slides away from the small of his back down to around his hip, his thumb gently rubbing against Niall's hipbone as he smiles down at him.

"The, uh, the doc said I'm not contagious anymore," Niall says, aiming for casual despite the mild tremor in his voice.

"Is that right?" Bressie hums as he lifts his eyes towards the ceiling. Niall follows his gaze and spots a sprig of mistletoe pinned above their heads and he lets out a laugh.

"Pick this spot on purpose, did you?"

"It's my favourite corner," Bressie says as his fingers slip under the hem of Niall's shirt. Niall shivers at the feeling of Bressie's fingers on his skin and he steps closer, putting his hands on Bressie's biceps as he tilts his head back to stare up at him.

"Mine too, now," he murmurs before he lifts himself up onto his toes just enough so his lips can touch Bressie's.

Bressie's free hand immediately cups the side of Niall's face as he kisses him back, keeping it short and sweet but not letting Niall get away when it's over. He presses another kiss to Niall's lips, followed by another and another and soon Niall's whimpering a little in Bressie's arms because it's so much but still just _not enough_.

"Brez," he groans. "Quit teasin'."

"Don't be greedy now, Chief. It's only Christmas Eve," Bressie says as he kisses Niall's cheek before putting his lips to Niall's ear. "The real stuff has to wait for tomorrow, yeah?"

It's nearly impossible for Niall not to go boneless in Bressie's arms, not to cling to him and beg for more. But the look in Bressie's eyes tells Niall he's got so much to look forward to if he's just a little more patient that Niall manages to keep himself together. He kisses Bressie one more time, moaning softly as he pulls away and wipes at his mouth.

"C'mon, we should go find Bobby," Niall says as he takes Bressie's hand.

"Lead the way, Chief."

Niall laughs as Bressie smiles at him, the same fond look spread across his face as he's seen so many times before. He doesn't know how he could've possibly missed it before, but Niall knows for certain now that he'll never miss it again.

**Author's Note:**

> [come talk to me on tumblr!!](http://imlouisaf.tumblr.com)


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